Upanishads · Praśna 1.4
॥
Devanāgarī
तस्मै स होवाच ।
प्रजाकामो वै प्रजापतिः ।
स तपो ऽतप्यत ।
स तपस् तप्त्वा स मिथुनम् उत्पादयते रयिं च प्राणं चेति ।
एतौ मे बहुधाः प्रजाः करिष्यत इति
Transliteration (IAST)
tasmai sa hovāca |
prajākāmo vai prajāpatiḥ |
sa tapo 'tapyata |
sa tapas taptvā sa mithunam utpādayate rayiṃ ca prāṇaṃ ceti |
etau me bahudhāḥ prajāḥ kariṣyata iti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तस्मै सः ह उवाचtasmai saḥ ha uvācato him he said; the seer answered him
प्रजाकामः वैprajākāmaḥ vaidesiring offspring; longing for creatures
प्रजापतिःprajāpatiḥPrajāpati ('the Lord of creatures'); the Lord of progeny; the Father of the born
सः तपःsaḥ tapaḥhe, austerity; he, the spiritual heat
अतप्यतatapyataperformed austerity (from √tap — 'to burn'); kindled tapas; practised austerity
सः तपस् तप्त्वाsaḥ tapas taptvāhe, having performed austerity; after the spiritual heat
सः मिथुनम्saḥ mithunamhe, a pair; a duality
उत्पादयतेutpādayatehe produces (ud-√pad, causative); he brings forth; he brings forth
रयिम् चrayim camatter and; nourishment and
प्राणम् च इतिprāṇam ca iti'and prāṇa', thus; saying 'and life'
एतौ मेetau methese two of mine; these two for me
बहुधाः प्रजाःbahudhāḥ prajāḥmanifold creatures; a numerous progeny
करिष्यतः इतिkariṣyataḥ iti'they will make', thus; thinking 'they will produce'
Translation
He answered him: "Prajāpati desired offspring. He performed austerity and, having performed it, produced a pair — rayi and prāṇa: 'These two will make me manifold creatures.'"
Version
f43a5da87896 · published Jul 26, 2026, 8:35:21 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The answer begins with a Person, not with a mechanism: prajā-kāmo vai prajāpatiḥ — "Prajāpati desired offspring". At the source of the living stands neither accident nor blind law but the desire of the Lord of creatures: the world was born because it was wanted. And the desire did not create at once: sa tapo 'tapyata — "he kindled austerity": between the design and the making stands tapas, the gathered heat of will; even the Creator "labours" — creation is the Creator's sacrifice, not a snap of the fingers.
The fruit of the tapas is a mithuna, a pair: rayi and prāṇa — substance and life, the nourishing and the moving, the shaped and the shaping. Everything alive is woven of these two: the body of rayi, the breath of prāṇa; the moon and the sun (the next verse) are their cosmic faces. Creation through a pair is a deep thought: life is derivable neither from matter alone (that is dead) nor from spirit alone (that is bodiless) — it is always the meeting of two.
etau me bahudhāḥ prajāḥ kariṣyataḥ — "these two will make me manifold creatures": me — "for me, mine": creatures are made not into a void but for the Lord — as His family, not as orphans. The Upaniṣad's first "whence" has received an answer in which the "wherefore" is already audible: out of the desire of the Father of creatures — and for Him.